The present invention relates generally to gas generating systems and, more particularly, to gas generating systems for use in applications such as inflatable occupant restraint systems in motor vehicles.
Installation of inflatable occupant protection systems as standard equipment in all new vehicles has intensified the search for smaller, lighter and less expensive protection systems. Accordingly, since the inflation gas generator used in such protection systems tends to be the heaviest and most expensive component, there is a need for a lighter, more compact, and less expensive gas generating system.
A typical gas generating system includes cylindrical steel or aluminum housing having a diameter and length related to the vehicle application and characteristics of a gas generant composition contained therein. Because inhalation by a vehicle occupant of particulates generated by gas generant combustion during airbag activation can be hazardous, it is desirable to remove particulate material, or slag, produced during combustion of the gas generant. Thus, the gas generating system is generally provided with an internal or external filter comprising one or more layers of steel screen of varying mesh and wire diameter. Gas produced upon combustion of the gas generant passes through the filter before exiting the gas generating system. In a conventional system, the particulates are substantially removed as the gas passes through the filter. In addition, heat from combustion gases is transferred to the material of the filter as the gases flow through the filter. Thus, as well as filtering particulates from the gases, the filter acts to cool the combustion gases prior to dispersal into an associated gas-actuatable device. However, it is important to provide a gas generating system including these features while minimizing the size of the system, thereby reducing the overall packaging size of the vehicle safety system and providing greater design flexibility in various applications or uses of the gas generating system. Furthermore, reducing the size of the gas generating system reduces the raw material requirements, and may also advantageously reduce the manufacturing complexity, thereby reducing overall manufacturing costs.
Other ongoing concerns with gas generating systems include the ability to achieve any one of a variety of ballistic profiles by varying as few of the physical parameters of the gas generating system as possible and/or by varying these physical parameters as economically as possible.